


Green

by Fishyz9



Category: Days of Our Lives
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-25
Updated: 2013-03-25
Packaged: 2017-12-06 12:42:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/735809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fishyz9/pseuds/Fishyz9
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will is uncomfortable with Sonny’s ongoing friendship with Brian, and his attempts to express as much do not go as planned (at first).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Green

**Author's Note:**

> This started out as a part of ‘An Endless Series of Fails Part II’, but carried on for far too long. Ah well.

** Green. **

I hate it when Sonny’s mad with me. I hate it even more when he has a legitimate reason to be mad with me. Only in this instance, I don’t think I was completely out of line. I could have used my words more wisely, but surely by now Sonny can appreciate why I might feel uncomfortable with his continued friendship with Brian. In fact, I’m a little stung that he shut me down so quickly.

_An hour earlier…_

_“Hey, you’re still here.” He says as he strides out of the bathroom, pulling his grey V-neck sweater that looks amazing on him over his head. Usually I love it when he wears that sweater; it hugs his torso perfectly and just makes me want to grope him all the time, but I don’t want him to wear it today. Not when he’s meeting his_ friend _, Brian._

_“Yeah, um…can I talk to you for a minute?” Usually I take off a little while before him when I stay at his place, just to make it to class on time, but this time I’ve hung around in an attempt to grow a pair and just tell Sonny that I want him to cancel his plans._

_He frowns at me. “Sure.” He pulls out the chair opposite me, slides it a little closer to me and sits. “Are you okay?”_

_“Yeah I’m fine,” I try to smile to reassure him. “I, uh…I just need to be honest with you about something.”_

_He instantly pulls back a little, as if bracing himself for something, and I cringe. “I haven’t shot or knocked anyone up, relax.”_

_He rolls his eyes at me and then scoots closer, nudging my foot with his. “Tell me what’s bothering you.”_

_I take a deep breath and rub my hands along my thighs nervously. “Would…would you be mad with me if I asked you to cancel your plans today?”_

_He frowns. “I’m assuming you mean with Brian?”_

_“Yeah._ That _guy.”_

_He slumps, sighs at me. “Will, come on…”_

_I wince. “I know, it’s…it’s irrational and all, but I’m not completely comfortable with you guys hanging out. I’m sorry.”_

_“Why though?”_

_I give him a knowing look. He_ knows _why. “Because of the way he is with you.”_

_“Will, we got this all cleared up, remember? He should never have lied to you the way he did, it was a low shot and he knows it. I ripped him a new one, he apologized, and now we’re just buddies. There’s no reason for you to be worried.”_

_“Whether there’s a reason or not, I’m really not comfortable with it, and I’d appreciate it if…if maybe you two just didn’t…”_

_He frowns at me. “Are you telling me to stay away from him?”_

_I shake my head quickly. “Not telling, I’m asking. There’s a difference.”_

_I can tell by the way he leans back in his chair and runs a hand through his hair that I’ve pissed him off. This is not how this was supposed to go._

_He taps his fingers impatiently on the kitchen table. “Do you remember once upon a time when I tried to express the same feelings about Gabi?”_

_“That’s not_ — _”_

 _“And you wouldn’t back down, would you? You stayed loyal to your friend_ — _notice I said the word_ friend— _despite my feelings on the matter.”_

_“That’s not even remotely the same.”_

_“Why not?”_

_“Because Gabi wasn’t trying to sleep with me!”_

_“Oh my God,” he swipes a hand over his face. “This again? Can you hear yourself? He does-not-want-to-sleep-with- me!”_

_I push back from the table and stride away, both of my hands running through my hair in frustration, messing it up. “And you think_ I’m _naïve.”_

_I hear him stand and approach me; his hand at the crook of my elbow turns me to face him. “You get that this is insulting, right?”_

_“How is me not wanting some jerk drooling all over you insulting?”_

_“Because you’re saying you don’t trust me!”_

_“I do trust you, I just don’t trust_ him! _”_

 _“That is such a line, Will. It shouldn’t matter! As long as you trust_ me _you have nothing to worry about!”_

_“Look.” I say firmly. “If it was anyone else, I could let it go, but you’ve got to understand why this might make me uncomfortable.”_

_“Quite frankly? No, no I don’t understand” he says, and then gestures between us. “Not when things between us are_ so _damn good. I don’t understand how you don’t have a little more faith in me by now.”_

_I swallow hard. “Well maybe I remember all too vividly what you look like kissing him.”_

_He flinches, pulling back slightly._

_“Maybe I remember too vividly the_ way _you kissed him.”_

_I see him swallow. “We’ve been over this,” he says softly. “We were not together. I was hurting, he was just…”_

_“_ There _. He was just there, I know. And I had no problem with letting it go, but that was before I realized that he wasn’t completely out of the picture.”_

 _“We talked this out, though. He apologized, he knows that I’m not remotely interested and he’s moved on. We_ talked _about this, Will.”_

 _“Actually, no,_ we _didn’t. You two talked about it, and you_ informed _me that everything was ‘cool’. It didn’t seem to matter that I didn’t forgive him, only that you did. You didn’t include me in that conversation at all.”_

_“And what would you have said, exactly?”_

_I wet my lip, getting angry. “I would have said that I’m_ not _cool.” I rub the back of my neck and then shake my head. “Look, what it comes down to is that I don’t want him around you, end of story.”_

_He takes a step backwards, and I know immediately that I’ve gone too far. “Did you just give me an order?”_

_Crap. “I am asking you, as your boyfriend, to please not hang around this guy. That’s all.”_

_He lets out a frustrated breath and shakes his head. “You know, you’re kind of being a dick.”_

_“I kind of don’t care.”_

_He raises one eyebrow. “No.”_

_That stumps me. “No?”_

_He shrugs. “No. I’m not going to cut someone loose just because you don’t like them.” He folds his arms, but he also shuffles his feet, and I see his throat bob nervously. “See, I can be a loyal friend too, Will. And I really don’t appreciate being told what to do.”_

_Heat slams into my face and I feel the beginnings of bewilderment. I tried exercising my executive privileges as his boyfriend, and he’s shot me down. It’s embarrassing as hell. We look at each other awkwardly for a few moments until eventually I clench my jaw and stride away with a whispered “fine,” and snag up my backpack._

_“Wait, Will…” He says softly behind me, and with one hand resting on the front door handle, I turn back to look at him._

_“You know what?” I say. “You once said to me that you never wanted me to feel like I wasn’t good enough for you. Well, guess how Brian makes me feel?”_

_Something in his expression softens and he takes a step towards me. “Will…”_

_“And just so you know? It hasn’t escaped my notice that you pulled that sweater_ — _the sweater you look amazing in—out of the laundry hamper today for your little coffee date.”_

 _I see his eyes go wide just as his arms fly out to his sides in exasperation. “Are you_ kidding _me right now?! You can’t seriously_ — _”_

_I close the door behind me._

I got as far as Horton Square before I decided to ditch classes that morning. Too annoyed to concentrate on anything, I told myself a little coffee and a little boyfriend stalking might just calm me down. Either that or I’d succeed in completely alienating myself from Sonny. Quite frankly I was too pissed off to think it through.

I know that hanging around Common Grounds when we both know I have other stuff to be getting on with will do nothing to soften him up, but there’s no way I’m going to so conveniently take myself out of the picture for Brian. I know he’s otherwise a good guy—he must be, if Sonny likes him—but when it comes to _this_ , when it comes to taking what he wants, he quite clearly has no qualms with playing dirty. He’s proven that to me once before already. And I know that some people think of me as this dumb, naïve guy who sees the best in everyone, but guess what? That’s not the case when it comes to Sonny. _No one_ is taking Sonny away from me.

My coffee’s getting cold, but I don’t dare ask for a refill, so I take my phone out and pretend to be checking my messages while keeping one eye on the door, and one eye on Sonny who is presently looking at me with a mixture of annoyance and exasperation. It may be wishful thinking, but I’m hoping that there’s a hint of fondness somewhere in there too.

At least he didn’t throw me out, though he definitely isn’t playing nice.  And I’m guessing that he may have told Jen—one of his employees and a friend of his—about our little spat because I couldn’t help noticing her small grin when I strode in this morning. Like she thinks we’re cute when we argue, or something. She outright laughed at us when I tried to order a drink at the counter.

_Twenty minutes earlier…_

_I stride into Common Grounds (after only hesitating for a few minutes by the door) with a determination to stand up for myself. As soon as I walk up to the counter I see Sonny’s shoulder’s slump and his eyes roll._

_I clear my throat and look up at the boards behind him, as if pondering what to order. “Hi, can I get a_ — _”_

_“What the hell are you doing?”_

_I look at him, playing innocent. “Ordering coffee. That alright with you?”_

_“You have an econ test to study for, you shouldn’t be skipping.”_

_“Yeah, well, I’m thirsty.” Even I think it’s a lame response._

_“I’m serious, you should be in class.”_

_“I need coffee. People need coffee, you know!”_

_We both look at Jen just as she turns away to subtly wipe down the counter, smothering what I’m pretty sure is laughter._

_“Fine.” He says, bracing both hands on the counter and staring me down. “What can I get you?”_

_“I’ll take a frappe-latte- mocha-chino_ — _”_

_“That’s not a drink. You’ll have a black coffee and like it.”_

_I clear my throat. “Fine.”_

_“Fine.” He repeats._

_“Oh my_ God _you two are cute.” Jen chuckles as she walks by._

_We both ignore her and he pours my coffee, setting it down in front of me. I take it, and I’m about to walk away when…_

_“That’ll be two ninety five.”_

_I look back at him, and then let out a laugh. He raises his eyebrow in response. I set the mug back down and reach into my back pocket for my wallet._

_“I guess those free coffee for life cards have an expiration date after all.”_

_“Nope, yours has just been suspended until you quit pissing me off.”_

_I make a little ‘pfft’ noise and pull out what I thought was a five, but turns out to only be a one. “Um…”_

_Sonny raises that damn, sexy eyebrow again, smug now._

_“You know what? I’ll just…” I wander over to the glass case to look at the various muffins and pastries. “I’ll just have a…uh…” Not a single one of them is priced below two dollars._

_“Sonny, be nice.” Jen says, stopping to stand beside me. She points at my face. “Look at his little face.”_

_“Yeah, Sonny,” I say, pointing at my face. “Look at my little face.”_

_He shakes his head. “You aint getting anything for free today, blondie.”_

_I walk back over to the counter. “Fine.” I place my one dollar bill down on the counter and slide it over. “I’ll have one dollar’s worth of coffee, please.”_

_There’s a ghost of a smile on his lips, but we’re both still too annoyed and unwilling to back down. “Okay,” he says, and reaches for my mug. I press my lips together in a tight line when, instead of pouring half of the mug away behind him, he brings it to his own lips and takes a few mouthfuls. He frowns and nods as he sets the mug back down, and slides it across to me. “Damn, I make a good coffee.”_

_“That’s debatable” I mutter, and then quickly walk away when I realize he heard me._

So now I’m sitting here, with a quarter of a mug of lukewarm coffee and nothing to do. He’s made a point of ignoring me, and I’m only now beginning to ask myself what exactly it is I plan on doing when Brian turns up. Sit here awkwardly as I watch them hang out?

Could I be any more desperate and creepy?

I make my mind up to finally get up and leave, admitting defeat for now and postponing our fight until later when I sense someone standing over me. Hoping it’s Sonny—ready to apologize and tell me he’s been an idiot and here, have this muffin on the house as way of apology—I look up, but I’m left mildly disappointed when I see that it is in fact not Sonny, but Neil.

“Oh, hey Neil.”

“Wow, such a warm greeting, I might just swoon.”

“Shut up,” I laugh, and push the seat next to me out from under the table for him to sit down.

He slings his backpack off and sits down with a huff. “So you’re skipping too?”

I shrug. “Just this morning.”

“How come?” He glances back over at the counter, and I follow his line of sight and see Sonny quickly look away. “Hanging with the BF today?” He grins. “Maybe taking advantage of the storage room when he has a break?” He winks at me, and I can’t help but laugh.

“Uh,” I rub the back of my neck. “No. No I’m…I’m just here to be creepy and weird today.”

“No change there then.”

“Shut up.” I elbow him playfully.

“Seriously, though. You’re…what, spying on your boyfriend?”

“Something like that.”

He whistles. “Wow. That’s super sexy.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “He has a date with _Brian_.”

The humor abruptly leaves his face. “ _What_? He and Bri—I _told_ him to quit being such a—”

“Hey, keep it down!” I whisper to him harshly, leaning my head close to his to speak quietly when Sonny glances over with a frown. “They’re not…I was _kidding_ , okay? They’re not on a _date_ , they’re just hanging out.”

“Oh, okay.” He leans back in his seat, glancing over his shoulder and then back at me. “And I’m guessing you’re not okay with that?”

I sigh, feeling pathetic and miserable. “No, I’m not.”

“Well, did you tell Sonny how you feel about Brian?”

“Yep.”

“And it didn’t go well?”

“Nope.”

“Did you put your well-meaning foot in it?”

“Kind of.”

“Aw, _Will_.” He laughs, almost affectionately, like I’m some lost cause.

I cross my arms on the table and rest my chin there. “I tried to be honest about how uncomfortable their friendship makes me and… _poof_ , it just blew up in my face. Like everything else. I don’t know why I even tried.”

Neil frowns at that. “Will, you shouldn’t have to walk around on eggshells when it comes to your boyfriend. If you feel strongly enough about this to bring it up with Sonny, then he should try and understand.”

“I could have handled it better.”

He slings an arm over my shoulders, leaning close. “I don’t doubt it, but it sounds to me like Sonny could stand to be a little more sensitive about your feelings in this.”

I nudge him away halfheartedly. “Don’t say stuff like that about him. He’s awesome.”

He grunts in mock disgust. “You are so gone.”

“Probably,” I look up to see Sonny glancing over at us again and then looking away just as quickly. I can’t quite read his expression, but he doesn’t look happy. “Wish he felt the same way.”

Neil leans close, frowning. “Do you hear that?”

I lift my head up off my arms. “Hear what?”

“The world's smallest violin.”

I mock punch him in the arm and he laughs, rubbing the spot. “I’m sorry,” he says, “but come on, Will. Anyone with eyeballs can see that Sonny Kiriakis is crazy in love with you. So quit moping.”

“I don’t mope.” I mope.

“Oh yes you do. And may I say, it’ _super_ attractive.”

“You know, you’re being a little more annoying than usual today.”

He sighs. “Are you really going to just sit here and stare at them? Because that might be a little too embarrassing for me to watch.”

“No, I guess I’ll head on off to class.”

He tilts my mug to check its contents. “Can I get you a refill first?”

“If you’re offering, sure. I’m out of cash and my barista boyfriend doesn’t like me very much at the moment.”

He stands, fishing his wallet out of his back pocket. “Yeah, and whose fault is that? Mister creepy stalker guy.”

“Go buy me a coffee, dammit.”

“How can I resist when you ask so pretty?”

I watch him walk away to the counter to where Sonny seems to be involved in a hushed conversation with Jen.  He doesn’t seem too happy. I can’t hear them from here, but I have to frown at the less than friendly expression on Sonny’s face when Neil speaks to him. No doubt he’s figured out what our conversation was about and doesn’t appreciate me blabbing about our private business. Right now I don’t think I care, in fact I have every intention of drinking this coffee, going back to class, and then pretending that this morning never even happened.

Neil sits back down beside me, and I offer him a smile when he sets down a saucer with a muffin in front of me. “You got me a muffin?” I’m not a fan of blueberry, but I’ll take it.

“Yeah,” he glances over his shoulder, smirking, and I feel as though I’m missing something. “Eat and drink up, gloomy Gus.”

“Awesome, thanks.”

“No prob—”

“Hey,” Sonny says with an obviously forced brightness as he pulls the seat out opposite us, sitting. “What’s up?”

“Huh?” I say intelligently.

“What are you guys talking about? What’s going on?” He leans back casually in his seat, but his fingers drum against the table top. When he sees me looking at them he quickly stops.

“Uh…”

Neil interrupts me. “We were just making plans for the rest of the day.”

Sonny looks at me. “The rest of the day?”

“Yeah,” Neil continues. “We were thinking of ditching the entire day and maybe driving down to the beach.”

That’s news to me, though it does sound nice. Sonny, however, is looking between us and is clearly less than enthusiastic about the idea.

“But Will has study group this afternoon, so he can’t, not really…”

“Missing one day won’t hurt him.” Neil says with a slight edge to his voice.

“But Will and I have dinner plans,” Sonny replies, his voice growing colder by the second.

“Wow, you really are the social butterfly today, aren’t you? Plans this morning, plans this afternoon…”

“What’s going on?” I ask, looking between them.

“Nothing,” Neil says brightly. “Actually, do you want to just take off now? I’ve got my car with me.”

“Uh...I-I don’t have any swimming shorts…”

“He has to _study_.” Sonny says through gritted teeth.

“That’s okay, handsome,” Neil says to me, ignoring Sonny, “I have some spare in my trunk—”

“Okay,” I interrupt him, laying my palms down flat on the table. “One?” I say, looking at Neil. “Don’t call me handsome, it’s weird.” I look at Sonny. “And two? I kind of assumed that dinner was cancelled today, seeing as I’m not exactly your favorite person right now.”

The atmosphere at our little table becomes tense when neither of them speaks. “ _Hello_?”

“I’m sorry,” Neil says, though judging by the sarcastic tone of his voice, I’d say he was anything but. “Are you uncomfortable with me and Will hanging out together?” He asks Sonny.

If looks could kill, then Neil would be a sitting corpse right about now. “No,” Sonny says, his voice like steel. “Of course not, I just don’t want him to get behind in his classes, or whatever.”

“Because I’d understand if you were. I mean…we _did_ share a kiss that one time…”

My eyes go wide. “Dude, what the _hell_?”

“And even though it was just one kiss—one pretty _intense_ kiss—and you guys weren’t even together at the time, I can imagine how I could make you a little nervous, you know?”

“Stop talking. Stop talking right now.” I growl at him.

Neil tilts his head slightly, ignoring me and looking at Sonny, as if I’m not even there. I grow increasingly worried about the status of my relationship with Sonny, wondering if I’m about to become single, as an angry flush creeps up his neck.

“So maybe I’ll just back off,” Neil says, though he doesn’t move. “After all, that’d be the decent thing to do, don’t you think? And you know…” He continues, not waiting for Sonny’s answer. “Not all guys would do that. Some guys just might hang around, playing on a person’s insecurities and biding their time, waiting to swoop in like some sort of vulture when things get rocky. Know any guys like that, Sonny?”

“Would you just shut up, Neil? _Jesus_.” I’m not completely oblivious, I can see the parallel he’s trying to make here, but all he’s doing is making Sonny madder by the second.

Sonny suddenly stands, his chair scraping against the floor as he does so. He stares at both of us and looks like he’s about to say something, but then turns to leave instead. He doesn’t go far because he pauses, turns back and leans across the table, taking my muffin, and then walks away.

We stare after him as he disappears towards his office. I turn and look at Neil. He smiles at me.

“You’re welcome.”

I smack his arm as hard as I can. “You _idiot_!”

“ _Ow_!”

“You just made everything worse!”

“Actually, I think you’ll find I’ve improved your situation somewhat.”

“ _Imp_ —? He took my muffin!”

“Where’s your phone? Ah-hah! Give it here a sec…” he doesn’t wait for me to pass it to him (I wouldn’t have) and reaches for it.

“What are you doing?”

He stops fiddling with it and then casually hands it back to me. I snatch it from him and inspect it. “What did you do?”

“I just needed Sonny’s number.”

“ _Why_?”

He rolls his eyes. “So that I can text him later to reassure him that I’m not really after you, and that I’m actually a nice guy.”

I blink at him. “Well good luck with _that_!”

He slings an arm around my shoulder and smiles at me. “You know, you really are something special.” He kisses my cheek and then pulls away to reach for his backpack. “I won’t expect I’ll see you in class. In fact it’s my guess that you’ll be spending the majority of this afternoon vertical. Again, you’re welcome.” He grins cheekily, and then lifts his chin towards where Sonny left a few minutes ago. “Ah, look who’s back.”

Sonny approaches our table, holding a small saucer with another muffin, but he doesn’t sit down. He looks at Neil instead. “Point made. Now get lost.”

Instead of antagonizing Sonny any further, he stands straight away and slings on his backpack. He briefly holds his hands up, palms outwards in mock surrender. “I was just helping out a friend. He’s a sweet guy, Sonny.”

“Uh huh.”

“I was just —”

“Okay Neil, bye bye now.” Sonny snaps impatiently.

Neil grins, aims a wink at me, and then leaves. I kind of want to throttle him.

“Can I…can I sit with you?”

I stare up at him. “Are you kidding? It’s your coffee house.”

He goes to sit opposite me, pauses, and then sits next to me instead. He places the saucer in front of me, and I swear a little bit of me just melts, right there. “You made a little heart out of chocolate chips.”

He nods. “Chocolate chip is your favorite. Not blueberry.” He pulls his phone out of his pocket, scrolls through it, and then places it next to the saucer. “This is for you too.”

I frown. “You’re giving me your phone?”

“No.” He laughs quietly, and reaches out a finger to touch the screen, his contacts scroll by. “Brian’s number is gone.” He explains, looking at me, and then scoots closer so that his arm can tentatively lay behind my shoulders. “I called him and explained that I couldn’t hang out with him anymore, that it wasn’t fair to you. His number is gone.”

I just look at him, my throat feeling a little thick. “You didn’t have to do that.” I say quietly.

“Yes, I did. In fact it’s what I should have done as soon as you tried to explain how you felt this morning. I’m sorry, Will.”

“You’re apologizing to me?”

He smiles softly, looking a little sad. “Yes.”

“But I’m lame. I’m the freak that followed you to work and set up camp with half a cup of coffee.”

He laughs quietly. “Yeah, and it was both annoying and cute as hell.”

I swallow, and when I speak my voice is notably soft. “Thank you for deleting his number; it really does make me feel a whole lot better. I'm sorry you had to, though, and that I couldn’t just get over it.”

He shakes his head gently. “It’s not as if you’re like that with every guy I know, it’s just this one.” His hand curves around the nape of my neck. “You weren’t being unreasonable, I was. And it just shows me how much I mean to you.”

“You’ve no idea, Sonny, none at all.”

He smiles gently, and then leans forwards to press a soft kiss to my lips. “How about I call Chad, see if I can get him to cover for me, and then _we_ go to the beach?”

I feel myself grin. “Now _that_ sounds like a plan!”

His hand cards through the hair at the back of my head. “Why don’t you go back to the apartment and get some towels and clothes for us both, and I’ll get to making some quick arrangements here?”

“Sounds good to me.” Though even as I say it, I don’t move. In fact I lean closer, watching his lips as they curve into a smile.

“One more thing?” He says, just as I’m about to kiss him. “I pulled this out of the hamper this morning,” he says, plucking at the front of his sweater. “Because I love the way you look at me when I wear it. That’s all.”

I bite back a smile, and then pull him forwards for a kiss. “I really do love how you look in that sweater. I love how you look _out_ of it even more.”

“Is that right?” he murmurs seductively.

“Yes, in fact —”

The sound of someone clearing their throat loudly breaks whatever spell we’re under and draws our attention to Jen, who’s clearing the table next to us.

“Maybe go home, or make use of your office that locks from the inside.” She gives us a sidelong look. “Just a suggestion.”

“You need to give this girl a raise.”

“I don’t think you’ve actually seen my office, have you?”

“No, but the fact that you have one is kind of hot.”

He stands and reaches for my hand, pulling me up. “Let me give you the tour. I think you’ll like my desk in particular.”

“I was kidding!” Jen whispers in astonished amusement.

Just as Sonny is pulling me along, I reach and grab my muffin. I take a bite, and then wink at her. “You’re just jealous.” I say with my mouth full, kidding.

“Yeah,” she says. “I’m green with envy.”


End file.
